Friendship

A good friend is like a good pair of shoes, you buy them brand new, break them in, and every time you wear them it feels so good and comfortable that even though they get worn and broken you just can't throw them away. Some say a good friend is like that outfit we having hanging in the back of the closet that we used to wear but doesn't fit in anymore, but we keep it hanging up in hopes that one day it may fit again. My question is when do you decide those "shoes" no matter the past you share with them are no longer what you need so you better get rid of them? Or that maybe you will never be able to fit into that "outfit" again so you just toss it out?

Is it when they NEVER return your calls, even when you call to check on a very sick relative of theirs or to just catch up ? Is it when you ask them to get together and NEVER get a response on multiple occasions? Is it when they NEVER make an effort to see your children, especially when they know how hard and long you waited for them? Is it when your kids look at old photos of the two of you together and ask "Who is this mommy?" and when you tell them they reply with "Why do they not come see us anymore?" Is it when you have prayed and prayed and cannot figure out what you did wrong?

The bible says in John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. I know this to be true and I follow this fully to be the best friend that I can be, but lately it just seems like I need help in this department with one particular friend. No matter what they have done to me and my family I find myself wondering if I would still follow this verse for them? The weird thing is that even though this person has discarded me like the old shoes and the outfit that will never fit again, I know in my heart of hearts that I would still be there should they ever needed me.

Proverbs 17:17 A friend loveth at ALL times, and a brother is born for adversity. I love all my friends no matter where life has taken us...to Alaska, to North Carolina, to Arizona, and those still here in Arkansas and I try to keep in touch and connected with their lives but is so hard when one of them just cuts you off without any explanation. My mind is telling me to just be done and go on without a second thought but my heart just can't let it go. I often try to put together a phone call, email, text, Facebook, or letter to apologize for whatever it is I have done to make this person so angry or hurt, but for the life of me, I do not know what I have done. I thought all was good and then WHAM a few years ago it was like I developed the plague. I cannot undo the hurt that has been done to me but I can choose to forgive and pray that I can forget the hurt, the anger, the tears, and the pain and stay true to the Lord's definition of a friend.

I guess I will hang on to that pair of "shoes" and that outfit I hope will fit again one day and keep them in the back of the closet in hopes that one day I can pull them out again and they will fit and feel like the first time I wore them!